Saturday, September 1, 2012

Dispelling common notions about homework

Today’s comments
follow two items I just read. One is from a teacher, who wrote a letter to the
editor entitled, “Hold students accountable for work.” In it, the teacher
states “I have had it with non-educators telling me how to run my classroom.” This
comment is made in response to an article in that paper, “Your assignment: Get
ready for homework,” by columnist Anne Michaud. I did not read that article,
but I read another one by Anne Michaud, “Less is more when it comes to homework.”
I support Ms. Michaud strongly in what she says.

The other item
is a comment written on a Wall Street Journal homework discussion group I set
up a while ago. The writer appears to
lament the fact that he did not take his homework seriously when he was a child
and that that prevented him from accomplishing certain things in his life. He
obviously disagrees with my point of view.

To start, I want
to be perfectly clear that I respect everyone’s experience for what it is. The
teacher who is frustrated with non-educators telling her how to run her
classroom has my full support. I have no doubt that we are in a time when
teachers are under huge pressure from influences that emanate from outside their
field. They are being judged and held accountable by politicians, not by the
natural supervisors in their fields. I’m a psychologist and I have always been
responsible to my state licensing board, to my supervisors when I worked in
salaried positions, and to my clients for their patronage. I have been trained
in my field and I expect that developments in professional practice will come
from other professionals, not non-psychologists telling me what to do.

But, I also
practice within a specific space. I see people in my office. Sometimes, I see
them off site at locations where I’ve been asked to appear. But I never assume
that I control spaces that don’t belong to me. I make recommendations. I don’t
enforce behaviors.

The teacher, who
wants freedom to run her classroom, should have freedom to run her classroom following
reasonable standards established by her field. I would not quibble with that.
In fact, I offer that notion my full and active support.

But what does
she mean when she says non-educators are telling her how to run her classroom? We homework critics are not talking about
classroom practice. We’re talking about expectations, enforced by grading
policy, regarding behaviors that take place in the home. Just as this teacher feels strongly about
non-educators telling teachers how to run their classrooms, I feel concerned
that teachers are telling parents how to run their homes.

My second
comment is in reference to the man who laments that he did not study harder when
he was in school. I understand his experience and recognize that it is valid.
In my work, I have met many adults who feel the way he does. They regret the decisions
they made when they were young.

When I talk with
these people, I find that they are quite bright but that there were reasons
they did not do their work.Typically,
they had problems with working memory and processing speed and it took them too
long to get the work done. I often pose
the question, what do you think would have happened if you had been asked to
work for a limited period of time, whether or not the assignment got done? The
answers differ, but most get wide-eyed and tell me they probably would have
done more. For them, the endlessness of homework was the primary reason they eventually
turned off to education. And, of course, they become adults and regret the
result.

Again, I respect
everyone’s experience. I feel for the teacher who faces a chorus of critics
telling her what to do. I feel for the man who laments the fact that he did not
work harder when he was a child. But there are underlying issues that can get
missed when one fails to challenge established beliefs.

The teacher should have
power in her classroom. Parents need power in their homes. Children should have
options for a satisfying future whether they like to read or hit baseballs when
they are home. The foundations for future success come from self-esteem, as
much as they come from the specific things we learn. There’s nothing
intrinsically wrong with giving children some assignments to do at home. There
is something wrong when coercion is used, through unduly negative grades, that
throws parents into a tizzy and cause children to then rebel.SPECIAL OFFER: THE HOMEWORK TRAP CAN BE DOWNLOADED FOR FREE, FROM SEPTEMBER 4 THROUGH SEPTEMBER 7 ON YOUR KINDLE. IF YOU HAVE A KINDLE, PLEASE TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS SPECIAL OFFER. PLEASE INFORM THE PRINCIPAL OF YOUR CHILD'S SCHOOL ABOUT THIS OFFER.Visit The Homewor Trap website